Daily Archives: September 26, 2016

It’s natural to assume that Tennessee, and sophomore defensive tackle Shy Tuttle in particular, might have some extra motivation this week.

With No. 11 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) visiting No. 25 Georgia (3-1, 1-1) on Saturday at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., Tuttle and the Vols will get their first shot at the Bulldogs since he was injured last season on a low block from behind by Georgia center Brandon Kublanow.

Tuttle suffered a broken fibula and torn ankle ligaments on the play, which sidelined him for the rest of his freshman season and resulted in a lengthy recovery that ultimately forced him to sit out the Vols’ season opener this year.

But Tennessee coach Butch Jones said Monday that Tuttle and his teammates won’t have revenge on their minds when they cross paths with Kublanow and the Bulldogs on Saturday.

“Again, it’s unfortunate that, that happened, but Shy has recovered from it,” Jones said during his weekly Monday press conference. “And you can’t focus on that. You have to focus on the task at hand and winning your one-on-one matchup and your preparation. I don’t even think he’s thinking about that, and neither are we.

“Again, it’s a new game. It’s a new season. It’s a new opportunity, so I don’t see that even entering in the thought process.”

The Vols clearly haven’t forgotten about the play, though. Jones referenced Kublanow’s hit on Tuttle earlier this month when he spoke to the Knoxville Quarterback Club, calling the block “unacceptable.”

I mean, if we’re gonna get into what’s unacceptable, let’s go through all of Georgia’s injuries in Knoxville during the last two visits, starting with Keith Marshall’s.

Your team’s favored and on a roll, Georgia’s reeling a bit and you want to gnaw over a football injury? I guess it beats having to discuss other painful topics.

— Head coach Kirby Smart, when belaboring the lack of big plays that could have changed momentum, mentioned Carter and cornerback Malkom Parrish.

“At the end of the day, the thing snowballed and we didn’t have anybody step up and make a play,” Smart said. “Lorenzo Carter, go make a play. Go make a tackle for a loss right there. Go make a play there on the perimeter there, Malkom, and it possibly changes the game. But we didn’t do that.”

I’ve noticed in the comments that some of you disapprove of the way Smart goes about calling out some of his players’ performances publicly, as he did after the Ole Miss game. Honestly, I can’t get that worked up about it.

Kirby Smart will be challenged for the first time as Georgia head coach to keep his team together and not split apart after a loss that had the Bulldogs tumbling 13 spots Sunday in the AP poll.

“We’re going to have to have guys step up and demand that players do it right and that every player buys in and practices right without ever pointing a finger,” he said. “The one thing I won’t stand for is somebody to point a finger at somebody else. ‘It was this guy’s fault, that guy’s fault.’ It all falls on all of us. It starts right here with me.”

“Because I’ve seen them do it,” Smart said when asked why he has confident his UGA can turn the page and respond against Tennessee. “I’ve seen Jayson Stanley make that catch. I’ve seen Isaiah McKenzie make that catch. I’ve seen Malkom Parrish make those plays. He made one against a 6’5″ guy against North Carolina. I’ve seen them do it. We’ve just got to do it when we need to do it. We didn’t do it today. Like I said, it’s not all on them. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches to help them… “

A little more clarity comes every week, right? Geez, the SEC East is pretty much living down to expectations now.

Alabama. Ole Man River just keeps rolling on.

Texas A&M. Hey, these guys might be pretty good, y’all.

Tennessee. Give ’em credit; once the Vols got rolling, Florida had no answer. And if they beat Georgia, that’ll probably be enough of a cushion to let them weather the storm of facing nos. one and two in the coming weeks.

Ole Miss. Remember the days when it was the other teams that called off the dogs after being up 45-0?

Florida. Fifth? Eh, I guess so.

Arkansas. Back to earth, with a thud.

Auburn. Winning with defense and a field goal kicker… when did Gus morph into Tuberville?

LSU. Was there a more fitting way for Les Miles to go than mismanaging the clock in a loss?

Mississippi State. Really didn’t do anything special in beating UMass, but I figure they deserve the benefit of the doubt for being in the West.

Georgia. I wonder how many other P5 teams are 3-1 with a minus-20 in point differential.

Missouri. I bet the Tigers are feeling pretty bummed about that Georgia loss right now.

Kentucky. Look who climbed out of the cellar!

South Carolina. With that loss to Kentucky, the chances for bowl eligibility have been reduced to somewhere between slim and none. And you know the old joke about slim.

Aw, fuck it. When your player of the game is the punter, it’s a bridge too far to waste a thousand words of analysis on.

If ever there were an exception to the rule of not scheduling weddings in the South in the fall, Saturday was it. My only regret was that it didn’t start a couple of hours earlier, so I wouldn’t have been able to watch the first half.